Dd had sneezing, watery eyes and itchy skin a few days ago and we gave her Benedryl.
Now she is convinced that everytime she has an itch she needs Benedryl. I am trying to explain to her that everyone itches and that it isn't always an allergy.

How old is your daughter? My son is seven and he sometimes goes through this. He absolutely hates taking benedryl (like mom like son ) but when he gets itchy, I think he gets a bit scared sometimes. He's not afraid of an anaphylactic reaction (his reactions have never been that severe) but he's afraid the itching will get worse. He does remember getting quite a few insect bites on his legs - and they swelled and itched all of both legs.

Our son's last reaction, my husband and I did remain calm, but we were quite a distance from any city. We got in the car and rather then heading towards home, we headed towards the nearest hospital (just in case). Getting caught by road construction didn't help either. (Hubby asked if there was any other road around as we needed to get near the hospital. The worker's were so nice - pulled one of their vehicles off the road to let us pass. ) Anyway, regardless of us being calm, he heard the conversations and I think they scared him. For quite a while after that, every itch and every bump he thought he needed benedryl.

Dd is 3.5. She has alergies to egg, milk and pennicillin (although I now wonder if the drug in question may have contained milk). She also has asthma.
Sometimes I think she answers my questions in the way she thinks I want to hear. Othertimes I think she's making a mountain out of a mole hill. Kids are so black and white at this age. But hey, who am I to say how itchy it is? I don't want to give her drugs unnecessariy, but I want her to trust her instincts and stand up for herself.
I can't ask her to demand that others respect her but not do so myself.
I also don't want to put a bandaid on every insignificant scratch. How do you teach them to differentiate? I read somewhere that small children can't really distinguish between a lot of pain and a litte because they haven't had as many experiences as adults. We know when it's severe or not but to them it's always severe.
Am I rambling? I'm trying to type this and cook supper!

When I was young, I knew I could not eat peanuts or nuts but I did not make such a huge deal about it. I became more and more paranoid as I grew older and understand the risks od death and how serious this allergy really is. I can't be rational when it comes to it, no matter how hard I try.

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